Paul Weller at Irving Plaza

Paul Weller started playing guitar at age 11 in his native Woking, Surrey, England. After seeing Status Quo in concert in 1972, he formed his first incarnation of the Jam, playing bass on Beatles covers and original songs. The Jam came into its own during the punk rock revolution, but also appealed to the mods, such they branded Weller as the "Modfather." The Jam became popular in England, but less so throughout the rest of the world. Seeking to explore a more soulful, melodic style of music with a broader instrumentation, Weller disbanded the Jam in 1982 and formed the Style Council in 1983. The Style Council initially scored a few hits, but did not remain popular, so Weller ended the band in 1989 and launched a solo career, first with the Paul Weller Movement in 1991 and then under his own name in 1992. Weller was now a singer-songwriter, ultimately earning four Brit Awards, including the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award. His 13th and most recent solo album, A Kind Revolution , was released on May 12, 2017.

Paul Weller headlines arenas in his home country, but in New York he performed two nights at the 1,025-capacity Irving Plaza. While his previous associations were better known in this country, Weller performed only one Jam song and two Style Council songs on the first night. Performing 11 songs from his 1990s catalog and 12 songs from more recent albums, his audience witnessed the evolution of a troubadour who left behind his punk and mod epoch and now blended a rocking Britpop with jazz and rhythm and blues influences. Weller sang emotively and played electric and acoustic guitars as well as keyboards during his two-hour show. The musical arrangements by guitarist Steve Cradock, bassist Andy Crofts, drummer Steve Pilgrim, percussionist Ben Gordelier and keyboardist Tom Van Heel provided the flesh for Weller's musical vision. The band assisted significantly in distinguishing the various approaches of each song so that perhaps the concert's most engaging elements was that copious musical ground had been covered.

Visit Paul Weller at www.paulweller.com.

Setlist:

1. Peacock Suit
2. Nova
3. I'm Where I Should Be
4. My Ever Changing Moods (The Style Council cover)
5. White Sky
6. Long Time
7. Saturns Pattern
8. Long Long Road
9. Going My Way
10. The Weaver
11. From the Floorboards Up
12. Up in Suze's Room
13. Shout to the Top! (The Style Council cover)
14. Into Tomorrow
15. Above the Clouds
16. You Do Something to Me
17. Woo Sé Mama
18. Friday Street
19. Porcelain Gods
20. The Changingman

Encore:

1. She Moves with the Fayre
2. These City Streets
3. Start! (The Jam cover)
4. Come On/Let's Go

Encore 2:

1. Broken Stones
2. Whirlpool's End